Once upon a time in Calcutta, the present Strand Road was under the water of Hooghly River and sailors used to frequent the neighbouring area, where the Calcutta Police Headquarters stands now. During those early days, the area next to the Tank Square or the Dalhousie Square was known as Flag Street, as the thoroughfare was regularly frequented by the sailors of the visiting ships and barges. It was lined with cheap eateries, pubs, indigenous liquor shops and houses of ill repute, which included brothels. All those arrangements were meant for the entertainment of the sailors. Naturally, it was a rowdy and notorious area, where street fights, hooliganism, stabbing and killings were a regular affair. However, as the river gradually receded toward the west and at the same time the Kidderpore Docks were opened, commutation of the seamen in the locality decreased considerably and finally almost stopped.

The picture of the locality changed with time, but was completely different from today. The road named Lalbazar Street was nonexistent and out of imagination. However, there was a road called Avenue to the Eastward, leading from the northeast corner of Tank Square to Bowbazar, where horse-drawn carriages or palanquins used to wait patiently. Edward Tiretta, said to be a friend of the legendary Casanova, built a bazaar (market place) in the locality, which still goes by his name.

There is much speculation about the origin of the name Lalbazar. It is said that the Tank Square became popularly known as ‘Laldighi’ due to the reflected image of the brick red writers’ building on the crystal clear water of the Square and hence the locality was also named after it. Legend says, the family of Sabarna Roychoudhury had an office for the legal cell or Cutcherry, in Lalbazar area and during the Holi Festival, red powder, locally known as Abir and Kumkum, a red pigment, was indiscriminately used with much enthusiasm to celebrate the festival. Naturally, at the end of the celebration, the locality used to turn red with the littered Aabir and Kumkum and hence the entire locality got its name.

The headquarters of Calcutta Police moved to the Ambassador’s House in 1791, which was constructed by the British East India Company in Lalbazar area. To meet the need of the day, a jail was also set up temporarily in the neighbouring area, which was commonly known as Harinbari. Subsequently, before shifting to Alipore, the jail moved to the Maidan area, where the Victoria Memorial Hall was constructed on a later date. At the same time, the police headquarters was also shifted from the Ambassador’s House to the nearby Palmer House, which was constructed on the spot of the ruins of a house, said to be the residence of some native.

It is necessary to mention here that, John Palmer, once a reputed and rich merchant of Calcutta, constructed the said magnificent three-storey edifice for his own use. In his heydays he was one of the richest merchants of Calcutta, but finally became a pauper due to his habit of charity. The building next to it was the Harmonic Tavern, the most gorgeous building in its day. It was famous for its concerts, balls and suppers during winter days in Calcutta and certainly added to the colour of the area during its days. During those early days of the city of Calcutta, it was the most gorgeous and most glamorous amusement and entertainment centre for the European communities in the city, before the emergence of Park Street-Chowrighee area. However, the legend of Harmonic Tavern is now lost forever, as the magnificent building was partially pulled down to give rise to a building to house the Presidency magistrate court.

Palmer’s House was demolished in 1914 for the construction of the present Lalbazar building complex, located at 18 Lalbazar Street. According to the records, the new four-storied stone-and-brick block was designed by Henry Crouch, architect of the government of Bengal and was raised by JC Banerjee, who had built the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation building, situated in the south-west corner of the Tank Square.

It may be interesting to note that, the name of Michael Madhusudan Dutt, the great Bengali poet, is associated with the present Lalbazar building complex, as he joined his duties in the building, as an upper division clerk in the court of the Presidency Magistrate, which he left within a few months. According to an available document, he used to draw Rs 125 per month. A bronze bust of the poet has been placed in a corner inside the building.

On the third floor of the building, next to the office of the deputy commissioner (traffic), a beautiful lounge, named Harmonic lounge, has come up, which is decorated with lots of old photographs of the city, many important historical documents and some sketches of great men of Bengal, along with a model of a traffic sergeant mounted on a real bike and a full-length sketch of the roads and the buildings of the city that date from the early 18th century.